Kansas Boys
by her Queenship
Summary: Four young men join together to form an alliance of trust, family and downright talent to overcome the odds and hardships to successfully make it in careers of the musical variety, together as a group. An AU depicting the rise and fall of musicians Castiel, Dean, Sam, and Johnny (10th Doctor from Doctor Who). First few intro chapters may be slow and short. Maybe Destiel Later.
1. Chapter 1, Of Humble Beginnings

**Kansas Boys**

Four young men join together to form an alliance of trust, family and downright talent to overcome the odds and hardships to successfully make it in careers of the musical variety, together as a group. Castiel Novak, with the voice of an angel, the lead singer; Dean Winchester, with the brains and brawn to push their success forward and the talents to rock a guitar like no one's business; Sam Winchester, unstoppable with a bass guitar and forward with keeping everyone together; and Johnny Smith, quiet and shy, but a musical genius, lyricist, pianist and music writer. Together, they become unstoppable… or so they thought. An AU depicting Castiel and (10th)Doctor (Doctor Who) as humans, musicians alongside Sam and Dean Winchester. First few chapters may be slow. _Possible_ Destiel Later. I also expect this to be during a different time period as well, wanting the authentic feel of this taking place around the time the Four Seasons had existed.

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_Inner monolog_ in this Chapter by _Dean_

**DISCLAIMER: **I do _**NOT**_ own the rights to these characters. They are respectably owned by their true creators and owners. Plot is slightly derived from the musical Jersey Boys. I do not intend to strictly keep it that way though. Jersey Boys respectably owned by creator. I do not own any of it. Jersey Boys was originally created to honor the real Frankie Valli and the original Four Seasons. I respect this and I am not using their real names or sticking 100% to the plot. For the first couple chapters it will follow it somewhat closely, and I changed it to my liking for this original piece of work. Supernatural characters are respectably owned and belong to Eric Krypke. Doctor (Doctor Who) is also not owned by me.

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**Chapter 1**, Of Humble Beginnings

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_So you want to know the whole story? You came to the right place then, because I'm definitely the guy you should go to. Without me, all four of us would probably be nothing. One hit wonders if we were lucky. Because it takes just that. It takes that luck, talent, skills, and vision. And believe me when I say I got plenty of that._

_Cas was a cool guy, if you could give him that; worked at the barber place down the street before I taught him better. He was just a young guy at the time, not even legal yet and struggling to make it anywhere. He was shy, terribly shy. It was almost painful to watch just how shy the guy could be sometimes._

"Why don't you ever let the kid do a shave? Hey Cassie, come over here" A booming voice calls from a chair in the barbershop. The voice belonged to a Mister Robert Singer. He was currently being groomed by the owner of the barbershop. He knew the kid was working here for a while now, but never got to see him do much else.

_Bobby was the guy you would go to for anything. You could trust him. And he was damn honest to the point he could let you feel like he actually gave a shit. However, that was the only un-honest part of that. He mostly just made me pick up his dry cleaning. Made me cart him around like some hot shot. But he was respectable. And these days, that's hard to come by. I'd do anything for that man._

Castiel stops what he was doing, which was brushing up some of the hair that had collected on the floor of the barbershop. It was a slow day for him. Every day was a slow day when you would rather be anywhere else but there. "Yes, Mr. Singer?"

"Could you do a shave?"

"I s'pose I could, sir."

"Good man." Bobby says before pausing "I'm actually pretty fond of this beard. Just catch the edges a bit."

With that, the barber who had previously been working takes a step back and allows Castiel to pick up a razor and examine it for a second. The barber looks at Bobby to see if he had really made the right decision with this.

"Relax, the kid isn't going to cut open my throat." Bobby eases with an annoyance that commonly adorned his voice.

Little did he know, that was the moment Dean stepped into the shop. Surprising the inexperienced, aspiring barber who was just about to start his work on Bobby, the shave got away from him and nicked the flesh of the beard. It was just a small slice. The barber who owned the shop grumbled as he took the knife from Cas and went to get a rag to give to Bobby, who had then applied it to his small cut.

"I-I am so very sorry, Mr. Singer, I do apologize-"

"Easy kid, what's a little blood between friends?" Bobby says with a shrug before looking to Dean who had just walked in "Warn us a second time, will ya?"

"Sorry, won't happen again, sir."

"Don't worry about it."

_Again, Bobby was the guy you would go to. That guy and me, we had a special friendship._

"Did you pick up my dry cleaning?"

Dean looks back from the driver's seat to get a glance at Bobby sitting beside Cas in the back. He seemed uninterested but Dean knew his ass would be chewed out if he hadn't humored the man's request. "Yeah. It's already at your home."

"Good man. Keep that up. Run Cassie home then drop me home."

Dean nodded in agreement as he drives.

"Have you been doing your exercises?" Bobby asks Cas sitting beside him, voice gruff as always.

"Yes," Cas replies, shrinking in on himself.

"Good. Your voice is a gift from God, himself. The whole world will hear it, Cassie." Bobby praises the boy as he turns to give him an assuring smile.

Cas nods quietly before agreeing "Yes. It's just… I wish it soon happened."

"You're impatient? Don't worry, talents like those are bound to get you there, Right Dean?"

Dean smiles and glances back in the mirror at Cas "You will be bigger than Sinatra!" He proclaims. And with that, he pulls over to the side of the road in front of Castiel's house.

_There were only three ways to get away from this neighborhood. You joined the Army, and probably got yourself killed. You became a delinquent, and probably got yourself killed. Or you became famous._

_We chose the best two out of three._

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**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I don't want to start off like the normal person asking for reviews or ratings. I will however ask for feedback if you feel strongly towards giving that. This is my first fanfic and I intend to keep it going. The more I am urged to do it, the more I will! So let me know! I am also open for any suggestions, ideas and the like. I appreciate ALL Feedback! also just as a note, I do intend for Cas' voice to be a bit higher than canon purposes.


	2. Chapter 2, Delinquents

**DISCLAIMER: **I do _**NOT**_ own the rights to these characters. They are respectably owned by their true creators and owners. Plot is slightly derived from the musical Jersey Boys. I do not intend to strictly keep it that way though. Jersey Boys respectably owned by creator. I do not own any of it. Jersey Boys was originally created to honor the real Frankie Valli and the original Four Seasons. I respect this and I am not using their real names or sticking 100% to the plot. For the first couple chapters it will follow it somewhat closely, and I changed it to my liking for this original piece of work. Supernatural characters are respectably owned and belong to Eric Krypke. Doctor (Doctor Who) is also not owned by me. Song lyrics from "I cant give you anything but love" also not owned by me.

Song used within this chapter: "I cant give you anything but love", highly suggest you listen to this song (preferably by the Jersey Boys Movie soundtrack) when you read the lyrics being sung.

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**Chapter 2**, Delinquents

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_Later that night, Castiel was getting ready to go out with Dean and Sam on some "rehearsal" for a school dance. In all reality, he was going to spot for the guys while they were going to rob a bank at night._

Cas sat at the dining room table with his mother and father, taking only a few bites of his food. He was noticeably nervous, but his parents looked past it as him being his usual self.

"I don't get why you have to hang around guys like that. No good comes of them." His mother chimes.

"You risk being caged or killed for these criminals. Listen to your mother, Cas."

Castiel brushes it off "It isn't like that, they are my friends."

"Uh huh, sure. Some friends they are." His mother replies.

Just then, Dean knocks on the door and comes in.

"I got to go" Cas says as he picks up his food and brings it to the trashcan as if to throw it away. After everything his parents were talking about at the dinner table, he was growing nervous about the feat he was going to attempt tonight. His mother stops him and takes the plate. "Eat your food first"

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Novak." Dean greets them

"Hi, Dean. Are you hungry?" She asks as she starts to paper bag the food Cas hadn't eaten

"No thank you." Dean says as he moves back towards the door. Castiel makes to follow him quickly, trying to evade his parents as quickly as he could.

"Where are you going?" His mother asks as she continues putting the food back.

"We're out to rehearse. It's prom night and the band will perform a big one" Dean says proudly. The band was his doing entirely and no one could convince him otherwise. But he knew they couldn't perform without their new lead singer.

Cas' mother nods before looking at them suspiciously "Do NOT get caught drinking." She warns. Castiel stays quiet, just wanting to be out of there.

"Nah, Cas? He's a true angel. And he sings like one, too. Don't you worry, Mrs. Novak." Dean says to her as he smiles back at her then back at Cas. "I will take good care of him." Mrs. Novak nods and hands him the paper bag with the leftover food in it. "Have him home by 11."

Once they have left, the Novaks continue where they had left with their arguments over the delinquents of the town. They do not fail to mention Dean and Sam among them.

The crew of Dean, Sam and Cas are parked in front of the bank in Dean's Plymouth, going over the plans.

"Right, now Cas, you're going to be keeping watch out here while Sammy and I go behind to the back entrance. We are getting the safe and we will have it in the trunk in no time. Now tell me again what the warning signal was?" Dean asks, to make sure Cas had followed them through.

Cas nods "Silhouettes?"

"You got it. Now get out there. Act normal, real casual like." Dean reassures Cas and reaches back to pat him on the back as he got out of the car and stood infront of the building, doing as he was told to do. Dean and Sam make it to the back with the car and have the trunk open and ready for when they get the safe. They break in and enter the bank, making off to get the safe. Castiel acts as normal as he can before he notices an officer coming his way. He begins to whistle then sing up to the building before him and around him, still trying to do so in a casual manner.

"Hey Cassie" The officer greets him as he walks up, looking amused as to what Cas was actually doing.

"Hello Officer Mike" he replies as he stops his singing and glances at the officer before returning to his song.

"Why do you stand here and sing, boy?"

"Well, the acoustics here are the best in town."

"I see… Say, don't you have a curfew at 11?" The officer insists, still very amused.

"I woo my girl, up there, sir" Cas says as he nods up to a window on the second story of a building nearby. He then continues to sing as the officer watches with curiosity.

"_Silhouettes, silhouettes"_ Cas sings in his high voice in attempt to clue Dean and Sam into hurrying it up. The window Cas had gestured to before opens up and a woman looks out, looking annoyed. "Will you shut up?! We are trying to sleep!"

Cas quiets and blushes a light shade of pink "Her mother isn't very fond of me" he lies briskly, but the officer believes him.

"Sorry for the disturbance, ma'am!" The officer calls up to the woman as she goes back inside and slams down her window. "Now remember to be home by 11." The officer warns "Now get"

Cas nods and swallows down a knot in his throat before running off behind the bank. The officer walks him go and just shakes his head before he continues on his way. He doesn't catch Cas run behind the bank.

"Push, cmon." Dean grumbles as he and Sam attempt to move the safe to the car and into the trunk. It was fairly larger than the trunk was and it was much heavier than they had both expected it to be. When they see Cas run around the corner, Dean quickly barks out a command "Get in the car, the driver's seat." Cas quickly follows the command and gets in the front. Sam and Dean continue to struggle and finally get the safe to the trunk. The trunk is quickly weighed down by the safe and the car seems to teeter back on the back wheels. The safe can only fit with the trunk up.

With not enough time to fix it, and the lack of energy, Dean barks another command to Cas "Petal to the metal, Cassie!"

Cas complies, his nervousness and fright through the roof as he presses the gas pedal and floors the car out of the alleyway, seeming to pull a wheelie at how the back end of the car was the only part touching the ground. It was only then apparent to Cas, Dean and Sam that Cas didn't really know how to drive. Well shit.

"Stop the car!" "Put on the brakes, Cas!" Sam and Dean try to yell at the car but it was too late. The car turned and then Cas tried to over correct it, the car hitting and smashing right into the storefront of a store across the way from the bank.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Thank you very much! I'm Dean Winchester on guitar, and this is my brother Sam Winchester on base. And here and now on this very stage, I'd like to welcome a new discovery: Castiel Novak. Get up here Cas!" Dean introduces to the crowd at the small bar club they were performing at.

Cas looks up at the stage then around the audience, nervousness catching him. But he was preparing for this. He wanted this so badly and he knew if he could just do this, the hardest part was over. He could do this, right? Either way, his legs took him up to the stage and Dean clapped a hand on his back "This is your time, kid. Here is your chance."

Cas looked out over the crowd as the music had begun to play. Without permission from himself or his nervousness, he began. He knew the song well, he had practiced this countless of times and his voice had to be heard. It had to be out there. There was no stopping it as he began to sing.

"_I can't give you anything but love, baby._

_That's the only thing I've plenty of, baby._

_Dream awhile, scheme awhile_

_We're sure to find_

_Happiness and I guess_

_All those things you've always pined for_

_Gee I'd like to see you looking swell, baby._

_Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn't sell, baby._

_Till that lucky day you know darned well, baby._

_I can't give you anything but love."_

Cas sings his heart out into the mic and the audience bustles about in their seats, listening close and whispering back and forth about this man before them and his voice of an angel.

"He is so cute" "Yes he is" "He is really talented" were just some of what those praises were. A particular girl in the front row really found him dreamy, and Cas had caught that. He had also caught the glimpse of another man beside her and he was quick to disregard any plans he might had hypothetically thought of.

After the song had come to its close, the audience applauded him and Dean patted his back "You did real good."

They move on to backstage after the performance. Sam and Dean sat in the room as Cas had come back as well.

"Look who's here" Sam greeted and Dean looked up "There he is." They both gave friendly and encouraging smiles to Cas, who grinned and seemed to be feeling better about his nervousness of being on stage. He was very happy with how the audience had responded.

Dean mistook the grin for pride and he shrugged "You did good, not fantastic though"

"The audience seemed to enjoy it" Cas chimes as his eyebrows furrow, suddenly shot down. Sam stays out of it, knowing not to argue with Dean. Cas was thinking about that one girl he had seen who seemed to really connect with him over the song.

Dean's expression suddenly becomes very serious "Oh so you are the expert now? I decide when the audience likes it. You take orders and listen to me now." He says before his tone shifts back to his more comfortable state. "I saw that broad up front eyeing you"

"Hmm? Her? No, she was sitting with another" Cas says, immediately pushing that away as his cheeks are dusted with a light shade of pink.

"So? Offer her a ride in a car" Dean says with a smirk. "A car? What do you mean," Cas starts but Dean stops him "Yes, in my Plymouth. If you are getting a girl, all of Hell is freezing over. You want the car? Fine." Dean says playfully as he humors Cas and takes out his keys to the car before offering them to him. Cas goes to take the keys but before he can grab them, Dean pulls them away "Now hold your horses. You need to learn something first."

Cas looks at him and narrows his eyes "Go on"

"You got to be mindful of your women Cas. That girl that you saw, you can easily get her with a car ride. But you got to treat them right. Other girls take wineing and dining until they let you do that. You shouldn't waste your time." Dean warns Cas.

Cas sighs, he liked the girl but he didn't want to get involved with Dean over it. "Fine, I am not going"

"Now cmon Cas, you want the car keys? Have them. I don't mean to talk you out of it. Im sure that girl is a real catch." Dean says before he offers the keys again.

Cas goes to take them again only for them to be snatched out of his grip once more "Cmon!"

Dean and Sam perk up to see him get his feathers ruffled. "Cmon Cassie, stop being so serious" Dean says as he offers again only for the same thing to happen. Cas is getting thoroughly annoyed by this point. They start to throw some swings and Dean simply catches him in a hold "Cmon now Cas, Listen to me okay?"

"Let go of me!" Cas says as he struggles.

"Come on, little brother!"

"I am NOT your little brother!" Cas says as he pulls free and Dean backs away with his hands held up in defeat.

"Cas, calm down" Sam finally opens up. Cas tries to follow his offer as he makes it towards the door.

"He takes everything so seriously." Dean says to Sam before looking to find Cas leaving. "Hey wait, Cas." He says as Cas stops in the door way and looks back. Dean tosses him the keys "Here. Take the car. Go someplace nice, with that lovely girl. Have fun." And with that Cas huffs and takes off with the keys.

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**A/N:** Thank you again so much for reading! Cas' parents will remain nameless for now. A note about Cas' voice: _Instead of Cas' canon gruffy voice, for this he has a higher voice, a very distinct voice and this is part of the reason the group will become more popular. _Also, since this is an AU, I wanted to bring in a different car as well. A Plymouth seems to fit the bill. I also expect this to be during a different time period as well, wanting the authentic feel of this taking place around the time the Four Seasons had existed. Again, if you guys have and ideas, suggestions, or any of the like, do not hesitate to tell me!


	3. Chapter 3, Jailbirds

_Inner monolog in this chapter by Dean_

_Songs used so far: "I can't give you anything but love" And "Sunday kind of love"_

_Song used within this chapter: "Sunday kind of love", highly suggest you listen to this song (preferably by the Jersey Boys Movie soundtrack) when you read the lyrics being sung._

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**Chapter 3**, Jailbirds

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Castiel had just asked the girl out for a ride and they were now exiting the club, this only being within an hour or so after his performance. The girl was willingly charmed by him and explained that the man she was with really wasn't all that worth it. Cas took it as well as he could, but he was extremely nervous as he led her out.

"So where do you want to go?" Cas asks the girl as they exit the club and head to Dean's Plymouth.

The girl smiles "I am happy wherever you are going. Where do you want to go?"

"Mexico?" He says with a small smile. But that was when his plans were rudely interrupted by a familiar cop and a couple of well dressed detectives, hanging beside the vehicle. He stops immediately in his tracks like a deer caught in headlights.

"Cassie" the familiar officer says in a greeting.

"Hey, Officer Mike." Castiel greets as he attempts at gaining some of himself back from his nervousness.

"Detectives would like a word with you" Officer Mike says with a nod in their direction.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

A firm hit to the back of the head with a book and Cas groans in annoyance.

"Jog your memory?" The first detective asks with annoyance.

"Cassie, what are you doing? You're under age, you are hanging around the jewelry store and giving the cops a fake excuse of wooing a girl." Says the second detective, the one who is interviewing Cas.

Cas glared at him "I don't know what you're talking ab-" he start but is interrupted with another hit to the back of the head with a book. The first detective continues "Dean and Sam already gave you up."

"Yeah, well bull shit." Cas argues. There was no way they could have given him up. They were his friends. He couldn't help but remember his mother's words right about now, telling him "some friends they are"

"Alright, take it your way. Cmon" the detective says as he grabs Cas by the arm and pulls him out of the room they were interviewing in.

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The group now stood before a judge, the events of the previous night having led them here. The judge addresses Castiel "And how old are you, Castiel?" He asks as he looks at the young man. Cas swallows as he returns the question "16, your honor"

Dean speaks up and addresses the judge "Please, the kid didn't have any idea what he was doing. I was conning him into it."

The judge examines the extremely nervous, frightened and confused look upon Castiel's face before making his decision "Consider this a warning, Castiel. I suggest you get yourself some better friends. Next time I see you in my courtroom, I won't be so kind. You'll end up caged. Now get out of here." The judge declares as he writes down his decision and Cas nods at the judge before turning to leave, glaring at Dean through the corner of his eye.

"Buddy, sing good, huh?" Dean mutters as Cas passes by. Cas brushes it off and continues to where his parents were seated, who then got up and began to leave with him. His mother was extremely ticked off though. Them getting caught drunk wasn't the worst of her worries.

She finally couldn't help but speak up as she glared back at Dean "You're the Devil, you know that Dean?" she says in annoyance.

Dean looked hurt and tried to get something to apologize, but nothing left his mouth.

"Just stay away from my boy, Dean. You got that? Stay away from my son." She warns and starts to leave as her husband mutters angrily a different language at Dean. The family exits the courtroom, leaving Dean to be the last one judged.

"As for you… Let's see, Dean Winchester, breaking and entering, possession of stolen property, possession of stolen property, breaking and entering, forging an official document, breaking and entering, illegal gaming. It's quite a resume." The judge says as he goes down the long list of Dean's previous criminal history.

"Thank you, your honor" Dean says with a small smirk and almost a bow of the head. The judge cant help but smile a little and he goes back to writing his decision on the outcome of this court hearing "So the kid's a singer?" He asks after a moment.

"He's a good singer" Dean declares and the judge looks up from what he is doing to watch him. "And he is getting better every day." Dean finishes.

"Well then he ought to be great by the time you get out." The judge states as his final decision "Six months."

And with that, the judge's hammer hits the wooden desk to finalize said decision.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

Now outside the prison that Dean was to be admitted into, Sam was dropping him off.

"Teach Cas, and watch him. If anything happens to Cassie you got a problem with me" Dean says as he tosses Sam the keys to his Plymouth.

Sam nods in agreement as he watches Dean go before looking at the keys. Maybe Dean's absence won't be so bad after all.

_So it's back to the correctional facility. They got a revolving door on this place. Someone from the neighborhood is always inside._

Dean approaches the officer who was taking him in and greets him as if they were old friends "Hey, man, you got a promotion?" he asked the officer as they went into the facility.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

Sam was working on the lock and chain that held the two steeple doors together to keep out any unwanted visitors to the Church. It's a shame that he knew how to open practically anything that stood between him and what he wanted, but this was for his training. And Cas knew that the acoustics inside the Church were the best they could ever train for. He was ready.

"Sammy, what are we doing here? I thought we were going to the movies" a girl, of which Sam had taken along, whines. Cas really wished she didn't come.

"Easy, it will only be a couple minutes. Relax, will you?" Sam eased to her as they made their way down the rows and isles towards the front organ.

She throws a fit "But I wanted to see that movie so bad!"

"Seriously, relax! Read the Bible, learn something." Sam says to the girl before turning to Cas "Cmon, Cassie" He says as they get to the organ. "Okay, do you remember the words?" Sam asked Cas and Cas nodded "Yeah." "Okay. Remember, don't push, bring a little more from your diaphragm." Sam instructed before he played the first starting chord, testing out the organ and its lovely sound echoing through the church. Sam wasn't the best pianist out there, but he knew enough to get chords down right. He then looks to Cas to watch when he was ready.

The three stood there, the girl and Cas having their flashlights pointed at the keyboard so Sam could see the notes. The chord was still ringing through the Church when Castiel finally caught his voice.

"_I want a…_" He starts as he holds it out, looking around in awe at how the Church took the acoustics. The notes held in the air and wafted around through the airy, open corridors of the Church. It rang out and echoed until it returned to their source. It was only then Castiel continued.

"… _Sunday kind of love."_

_A love to last past Saturday Night_

_And I'd like to know it's more than love at first sight_

_And I want a Sunday kind of love, oooooh"_

By now, Sam had begun to strike the lower chords with his own voice, continuing to introduce the new chords within the song as the organ's music filled the air and entangled with Castiel's angelic voice. Even the girl that was with Sam was enraptured by the song and began to sing in time with them.

"_I do m Sunday dreaming,_

_And all my Sunday scheming_

_Every minute, every hour, every day"_

The trio of just Sam, Cas and the girl filled the air of the church, the chords looming through their entire power and reaching every available space of the church.

"_I'm hoping to discover_

_A certain kind of lover_

_Who will show me the way"_

Their hearts were captured into their song, and they were so focused on that particular sound, they didn't hear a door crack open from a officer and a nun coming into the long corridor of the Church.

"See? There" The nun said pointedly to the officer as she walks down the aisle. By now Cas, Sam and the girl had stopped and turned to look at the approaching nun and officer. "I told you it wasn't some vision" she warned the officer.

"Cassie" the officer nods to Castiel before turning to Sam "What are you, breaking into a Church? You're on parole for Christ's sake."

The nun gave the officer a pointed glare before looking away.

"Cmon, give me your hands" The officer says as he cuffs up Sam.

"Well I guess this means goodnight, Sammy. At least I know where your hands are going to be" the girl remarks, rolling her eyes.

The officer starts to lead Sam out and Cas interrupts them "Hey, if you take him, you have to take me too" He argues.

The officer smiles "Hey, aren't you supposed to be home by 11?"

"It's alright Cassie, just remember to practice. Work on that B flat, Cassie, and that chest voice. And do your exercises!" Sam encourages Cas as he is led out of the Church by the officer

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

And just as Sam is being brought into the correctional facility, Dean is being brought out. As they pass each other they give smiles and their own ways of greeting each other before continuing their separate ways.

_So as I'm getting out, Sam is going in. The trio between me, Cas and Sam is now a single. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out there's no future for me as a singer. So I make an executive decision: I put Cassie in the band. _

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

Dean and Cas stood on the stage, both with a mic before them and Dean with his guitar. It was a celebratory get together at the usual bar club Dean played out, with a banner behind the stage welcoming Dean back home. Dean took the lower notes while Cas held his height to his voice. They were both part of the band now. And something miraculous happened as they sang together.

"_My arms need someone, someone to enfold_

_To keep me warm when Mondays and Tuesdays grow cold_

_Love for all my life to have and to hold"_

Cas had eyed a lovely lady in the back being pestered by the guy beside her. She just wanted to get lost in the words Cas was singing without being interrupted. But the man saw the way she was watching. He persistently tried to get her away.

Cas and Dean interrupt their singing quietly to talk amongst each other, away from the mics with no one hearing. The band continued on as if it was scripted. Cas looks to Dean and says "That man, look at him, acting so tough around that girl, my girl" he says and Dean brushes it off "She isn't your girl" Dean replies as he looks at Cas "She will be, as soon as we meet" "That is Meg, she'll eat you alive soon as look at you." "Cmon, Dean, I like her"

"_Oh, and I want a Sunday kind of love"_

They conclude their number as they take the applaud they receive from the crowd. Cas couldn't take his eyes off the girl in the back who was clapping for him. He then looked at the man again who was staring down at her intently. He could have been three times the size of Cas alone, but Cas didn't care. She didn't deserve the way he had been treating her.

"Thank you very much for coming out tonight, you've been a great crowd. Have a wonderful night" Dean says into the mic to the crowd before him and Cas leave the stage.

"Cmon, Dean, just this once" Cas says to Dean and Dean sighs. He really didn't want to do this. As much as he wanted the guy happy, he wanted to look out for his friend. This girl, she was a force of nature. Something not to be messed with. But Dean knew Cas was well too lost to understand that. Maybe just the fact Cas was so young proved he just didn't understand or didn't have the capability to understand. But Dean humored his friend. Cas had to learn one way or another. And so Dean took charge.

"Can you get rid of that guy with the red tie?" Dean asks a bouncer for the club as he nods to the back at the tall man who was annoying Meg. 'Cas' girl' Dean thought as he internally rolled his eyes at the thought. Cas wasn't allowed to have a girl. He would forever be too young, so Dean had thought. He had proven to feel a little protective over Cas but he would have never admitted it.

The bouncer nods and gets rid of the man. Cas watches all of this and smiles when he sees the girl left alone.

Dean and Cas head over to Meg "Hey Meg" Dean greets with a false smile and Meg smiles back "Hey, Dean-o, pretty subtle" she says as she nods to the direction the bouncer took the other man out.

"And I even have a better eye" Dean says with a wink before looking to Cas "Meg, this is Castiel, Cas, this is Meg" He says as he introduces the two.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**A/N:** So yeah. Meg. I know. I don't particularly like that ship at all, but this is an AU. I have already picked the parts of these characters to play and this is just how the puzzle seems to fit in with the plot. But don't worry. You've now had a glimpse of how Dean feels about all of this. Next Chapter will pick up where this one was left off! So what do you think so far? Feel free to give me any ideas or suggestions!


	4. Chapter 4, Wedding Bells

_Inner monolog in this chapter by Dean_

_Songs used so far: "I can't give you anything but love" And "Sunday kind of love"_

**_Warning: Strong language and slight gore ahead._**

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Chapter 4**, Wedding Bells

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Previously: "And I even have a better eye" Dean says with a wink before looking to Cas "Meg, this is Castiel, Cas, this is Meg" He says as he introduces the two._

Meg smirked slightly as she observed Castiel for a moment. Fresh meat. He was so young, was it even legal for her to talk to him? "Hi" she greets him with a twinkle gleaming in her eye.

She was so very attractive and Cas let his words fall away, surprised at how easy his nervousness could subside if only for a moment when he met her "How are you?" he asks as he glances to her lips and back up to her eyes. Those eyes.

Dean glances between the two and rolls his eyes before looking to Meg, knowing that look in her eyes. He could know what it was anywhere with anyone "Alright, slow down, the kid ain't even legal." Dean argues, trying to suppress the sudden urgency he felt in his heart to protect Cas and what little innocence he had left after Dean had corrupted him.

"Is that so? Since when do you care about legal?" Meg asks Dean with a smug smirk as she tilts her head up to look at him square in the eyes. She would have Cas. And Dean knew that.

Dean sighs and turns to Cas "Alright, cm'ere" he says to Cas as they both step aside and leave Meg to wander her eyes up and down Cas while his attention was elsewhere.

"Alright, this girl" Dean starts in a very soft voice to Cas "she's the first kind. Relatively easy. A home run. Just be careful." He warns Cas as he looks into his face and Cas looks away and nods in understanding. Dean pats his shoulder and smiles at him "Have a good time" he says as he goes to leave Cas alone with Meg, a huge smile spreading across Castiel's face. Despite the feeling in his gut and his overprotectiveness, he was happy for Cas.

Dean was happy just to know at least for one night, Cas could be happy too. Dean was the one that made Cas smile back before he left. Dean had taken Cas under his responsibility. And if he could be the one to make sure Cas was happy, that might just be enough for him.

Cas watches as Dean leaves before turning his attention back to Meg, his smile turning into a small grin. "You know, that's a nice color for you. You should always wear that" He comments on the dress she was wearing.

Meg's eyebrows lifted as she looked at him "Thanks for the fashion tip." She replies with heavy sarcasm. Her eyes did not leave Cas' as he lost his grin.

Cas stares into her eyes for a moment before looking back down at her lips again, the small smile returning "So. What do you say we get out of here?" he asks as he looks back into Meg's eyes.

Without a word, Meg smiles at that and picks up her clutch before she goes to take Cas' arm in hers. They then proceed to leave the bar.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

The door opens in to an Italian Restaurant, and Meg and Cas have seated and made their way through a pleasant evening, dining over a pizza pie.

"So this is a pretty nice place, huh?" Cas says as they are finishing their meal.

"Yeah. They don't sell slices, that's how you can tell" Meg says. She was putting her cigarette out as she had been smoking after she had enough to eat. "So, Cassie… Hm, how do you spell that?" she asks him with a smile.

"I don't really prefer to be called that. But I always thought it was spelled C-A-S-S-Y" He replies as he watches her intently.

"Nah, C-A-S-S-I-E" she corrects him with 100% confidence.

"And why is that?" Cas asks.

"Because Y is a bullshit letter." She replies as she watches the confused look upon Cas' face. She sighs when she notices it won't be going anywhere. Boy this kid was slow. "It doesn't know what it is, what it wants. I mean, is it a vowel, is it a consonant?" Meg elaborates and watches as Cas begins to understand.

"I never really thought about it like that" Cas says as he shrugs.

"That and it's a stronger ending. It says 'if you don't like who I am, you could go fuck yourself'" Meg says as she leans back in her seat and crosses her arms.

Cas' eyebrows lifted as he nodded slightly in agreement before they both fall silent for a moment. Cas watches Meg before he breaks the silence "That's a, a very unusual fragrance you're wearing, what do you call it?" he asks with a slight tilt to his head.

Meg stares at him for a moment, her expression blank "It's called soap." Cas narrows his eyes as he watches her for another moment. So much for small conversation.

After a moment, Cas breaks the silence once more "Dean warned me about you."

"Is that so? What did he say?" Meg asks, this piquing her interest as she smiles slightly.

"He said I couldn't handle you" Cas replies.

"That's only because he couldn't" Meg remarks as her smile widens into a grin.

Cas smiles and shakes his head slightly as he looks down.

"So this group?" Meg asks as she tries to start conversation this time.

"The Varietones." Cas says with a nod.

"Just you and Dean-o?"

"Nah, It is me, Dean and Sam. We had another guy in the mix, too but…" Cas says and trails off, not wanting to get into it.

"Oh yeah? Well where are they?" Meg asks about Sam and this other man.

Cas pauses before he replies "They went away for a while."

"What for?" Meg asks, still interested as to what had happened.

"They did some things" Cas replies as his eyes narrowed. He felt like he was being interviewed, like he was with the detectives. Meg certainly came on strong about what she wanted to know. He wondered why he had to start the conversation until they reached to this point.

"With friends like that, you should change your name to Sinatra" Meg remarks with a twitch of her eyebrow, feeling she had won.

Cas smiles at that "I'm going to be as _big_ as Sinatra"

Meg scoffs "Only if you stand on a_ chair_."

Cas lost his smile to an annoyed frown upon his face. His eyebrows furrowed "Why do you have to say that kind of stuff?" He asks, trying to keep his hurt undetected by Meg's proud and prying gaze.

Meg sighs, seeing that she had struck a chord. She decides to change the topic "Look, first of all, Sinatra wouldn't even be caught dead wearing that jacket. Where'd you get it?" she asks.

"I don't know" Cas says with a shrug "Dean got it off a truck"

"Exactly." Meg says before continuing. "Dean is a two-bit hustler, he doesn't see the big picture."

Cas sighs as he looks at her "So what do I do?" he asks.

Meg smiles mischievously and leans over the table slightly "c'mere" she gestures him to move closer before she gets up and leans over to grab Cas by his collar and pull him up and forward. She only stops once their lips have met and she pulls away once she was at last satisfied. She looks into his face as Cas stares back in sudden nervousness and confusion. He sinks back in the booth as he tries to recollect his thoughts as to what exactly just happened. When he came back around he saw Meg starting to move out of the booth "You got a nickel?" She asks Cas, the mischievous look in her eyes making him even more nervous. She holds her hand out to him as if wanting to take his.

"Yeah" Cas replies as he looks at her, his confusion and nervousness still apparent.

Meg smiles "Call your mother, because you're gonna be late" she replies and Cas' sudden realization strikes him as he gets up and takes her hand after setting down money for the food and tip.

They both then head out of the restaurant and into the night.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

The door openned out into a bright, sky blue day. Church bells rang as they exited the church they had then been married in, people, loved ones, stood on both sides of the walk way and cheered them as they exited. Cas looking sharp and handsome as ever in his tux, and Meg looking stunning in her version of a wedding dress. The happy couple made their way down the stairs and walkway towards the car awaiting them. Rice poured down upon them as the guests had showered them with it. Cas did his best to protect Meg from the small grains of rice pelting. They finally made it to the Plymouth after what felt like forever and they got inside, Dean holding the door open for them and patting Cas' back as he went in. He then closed it behind them and took a step back.

The car pulled away after they were inside and started out for the distance, cans trailing behind it and clanking down the asphalt of the road. And in the rear windshield was a sign, declaring the passengers as "Just Married"

"_I want a Sunday kind of love"_

_Meg already had a couple of years on him and they wanted out. Meg saw Castiel as her chance and she poured it all into him. _

_Love? I'll be honest with you. I never knew what that was. _

_Marriage? Marriage is not love. Marriage… Marriage is when you take a shave and your wife sits on the can, clipping her toenails. _

_Anyways, Cassie is married, We're playing club nights and cutting hair in the day time, and it's their anniversary. So he decides to get Meg some jewelry. So we go shopping._

Cas sighs as he drives his car down the road. It was night, the night of his anniversary to Meg. "I don't understand why he couldn't just drive his own to my place with the jewelry." He remarks to the man in the back seat. He was a business partner of the man in the front passenger side. They were the men who were going to pick up the jewelry from the store.

"Oh, cmon Cassie. You're going to love it. A couple of watches, some nice bracelets. Pearls and diamonds guaranteed" The man in the passengers side commented

"Ey, shut up… He doesn't need to know all that." The guy in the back seat says. He was annoyed with his partner who was laying it on too thick. Cas might catch on something is up…

The other man shrugs before looking at Cas "Cassie's cool. Right Cas?" he asks and Cas shrugs "Yeah. We're cool." He still hadn't caught on what was happening.

The guy in the backseat looks a little annoyed when he sees a passing sign "…This isn't Bloomfield" He remarks his annoyance.

"Nah, its Fairfield" The other man says, looking back.

"Fairfield? No, you fucking asshole, Bloomfield!"

"You said Fairfield!"

"Why would I say Fairfield if it was Bloomfield?!"

"I dunno, Donny, maybe your brain is fucked up!"

"Asshole!"

"Don't call me an asshole!"

"Why not, it's what you are! A piece of fucking shit moron fucking asshole!"

"Alright, guys, he-" Cas starts but is stopped by the man in the passengers.

"You stay out of this!"

"Hey, don't get out of line" The guy in the backseat says with a snap of his fingers as he glares daggers at his partner.

"Fuck him! And fuck you too, okay?! I'm not the asshole, you're the asshole!"

"Don't you call me an asshole, asshole!"

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it? Asshoooole?"

"What am I gonna do about it? What am I gonna do about it, huh?" the man in the back asks as he pulls out a gun and swiftly points it at his partner. Castiel watches in pure shock and fear as the man shoots him right in the head. The car comes to a dead halt as Cas stares in shock, his jaw dropped and pure horror striking his features. The man was DEAD. There was blood everywhere. He had to be dead! He finally finds his voice "HOLY _SHIT_! What are you, _crazy?_" He asks the man in the back seat.

"Now he's the asshole…" Donny says as he grimaces.

"What are you-" Cas starts but Donny interrupts "Get out! Cas, Get out!" "But how could you-" "-Don't worry about it. I can take care of this. I'll call you tomorrow, Get out! Now!" Cas complies and quickly gets out of his own car and starts backing away, Donny yelling "Go! Go!"

Cas swiftly runs away, his heart practically racing out of his chest. Holy crap. He just saw someone get killed. In his own _car_. Holy _SHIT_. He ran as far as his legs could carry him.

After Cas was gone Donny and the other man started to laugh. The once dead man was practically crying from laughing so hard.

"Oh you should have seen the look on his face! I'm sorry, but I just cant!" Donny says as he laughs.

"Well don't. We got to lean on him. And hard."

"Yeah."

"We need that money, Donny. Okay?"

"Okay" They say as their mood lightens again.

"Assh_oooole_! Alright, get in the front" he tells Donny and he complies.

Cas was out of a car and possibly able to be charged with at least being at the scene of the murder. He shuddered. There was only one person he could go to, one person he knew who could help him with this.

_Dean._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**A/N:** Holy shit guys! A murder! Nah. But will Dean really be able to get Cas out of this one? And I hope I didn't rush into anything with Meg. I believe this was over the space of two years. Also, when do you think Sam will get out? (; all shall be revealed next chapter (I think).


	5. Chapter 5, Birth of the Band

_Inner monolog in this chapter by Dean_

_Songs used so far: "I can't give you anything but love" And "Sunday kind of love"_

_Song used in this chapter: "My Mother's Eyes", highly suggest you listen to this song (preferably by the Jersey Boys Movie soundtrack) when you read the lyrics being sung._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Chapter 5**, Birth of the Band

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_A knock on the door of Dean's current apartment is heard. It seemed extremely loud in the quiet that was Dean's peace of mind, onset by a recent act of 'meditation'. He was just finishing a cigarette, his recent 'romantic interest' having left only a few minutes ago. _

He grabs up some pants and redresses himself as he marks out the bud of his cigarette in a dish "I'm coming, Christ" He grumbles as he makes his way to the door, running his hand through his still sweaty hair before he goes to answer it. He opens up the door and looks out to find a terrified looking version of his friend Castiel.

Before Dean could open his mouth as if to sarcastically say 'okay, Cas, who died', Castiel starts in his panic "Okay, Dean, something terrible just happened." He says before Dean sighs and holds out his arm, gesturing Cas to come in.

Dean goes to get a couple beers while Castiel sits on the couch. "Okay, slow down… So let me get this straight. _He_ shot somebody in your car, and they want to charge _you_ 20 big ones to make it go away?" Dean repeats as he glances back at Cas.

"25" Cas says with a sigh as he puts his face in his hands.

"Let me ask you something." Dean says as he comes over and offers Cas a beer. Cas looks up and shakes his head at the offer. Dean shrugs and sets it on the coffee table in case he changed his mind. He cracks open his own and downs a quick swig. "He shot the guy, why should _you_ pay?"

"What are you, nuts? This is my car. There's a dead guy in it, my prints are all over it, the cops are gonna trace it, it's a murder wrap, Dean" Cas says as he looks up at Dean, his eyebrows furrowing in frusteration.

Dean pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a sigh "Cas… it's a scam."

Sudden surprise washes over Castiel's features "What?"

"C'mon, they fake a murder in _your_ car and charge you $25,000 to make it go away."

"No, no, there was blood all over! I saw it with my own eyes!..." Cas says as he watches Dean before realization hits him "… fake blood like there is in the movies."

Dean nods and takes a swig of his beer before continuing "Let me explain something to you, alright? You shoot somebody, you shoot all the witnesses, too. That's a basic rule. I bet you $100, your car is sitting in his garage right now, spotless. $100!"

"… But Donny's my friend" Cas says after a moment.

Dean looks slightly offended but quickly covers it up "And _I_ am not your friend?" He asks, pointing to himself "_I_ am your friend. _Fuck_ Donny." Dean says, his tone showing his anger. He sighs "Just, go home. I'll take care of it."

Cas hesitates for a moment as he rubs at his jaw before focusing up on the man in front of him "And what are you going to do? Call Bobby?"

"Bobby? You mention _Bobby_? You don't bother Bobby Singer with two-bit bullshit." Dean grumbles. "I said _I _will take care of it, Alright? Go home. Take care of your wife." Dean says with a sigh as he gestures to the door.

Cas looks up at him and gets up from the couch. "Thanks, Dean. I owe you" he says as he offers Dean a smile and shakes his hand before heading to the door and leaving.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_The two men that had faked the murder in Castiel's car now stand in front of Mr. Bobby Singer and Dean, in Bobby's current residence. _

"What am I going to do with you? Huh? Idjits." Bobby says as he stares at the two men, his eyes cold.

"You said it, Bobby" Dean agrees as he looks between the men.

Bobby looked at the one man, Donny, narrowing his eyes. He was wearing a hat. _In Bobby's presence?_ This only further agitated the man. "Take off your hat." He practically commands Donny.

Donny quickly complies, removing his hat to Bobby's satisfaction and slicking back his hair as he brought his hat down in his hands in front of him. By his shaking and nervous, fidgety movements, one could assume he was actually scared of the man.

Bobby stares at them for a moment before he proceeds "Okay, I am only gonna say this once. So get it through your _thick skulls_. Castiel is my friend, got it? You do not touch him, you do not speak to him, you don't even dream about him. If you see him coming towards you, _you cross the street_. But… If he trips, you _better_ be there to catch him." Bobby waits until the two men nod their heads in agreement to Bobby's orders. "Now, get out of here." Bobby says as he nods his head to the door.

The two men turn to leave and go to the door when Dean speaks up again "You're being watched, my friends." He warns. Bobby rolls his eyes at Dean's remarks. The case had already been proven enough "Yes, thank you Dean" He says sarcastically. He turns his back to the men and Dean as he pours himself a glass of whiskey, a mumble of the word "idjits" inaudibly escapes from his mouth.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"… _God's gift sent from above,"_

Castiel sings from the stage at Bobby Singer's favorite club near the neighborhood. Bobby had made sure to honor Castiel's wish in wanting to get somewhere faster. And if Castiel could get noticed on stage, perhaps he might just get the shot he wanted.

"_A real unselfish love,"_

However, as the song is drawing to a close, and Bobby listens to Castiel's angelic voice fill the club, he couldn't help fight his tears, letting one or two slip. But he would never admit to it. This was his favorite song and for it to be graced by Cas's voice, the voice he invested in, anyone in his shoes would probably shed a tear or two in that case. Right? Right.

"_I found in my mother's eyes."_

Castiel was going to go far, Bobby thought as he dabbed his tears quickly to avoid anyone catching such an emotion. If only he truly fathomed just how far Cas would go. Bobby claps with the audience as the song had closed and Cas was smiling on the stage, bowing. It was only then he remembered Dean was there as well, playing alongside Cas with his guitar. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen" Dean speaks into the mic to the crowd before looking at Bobby in the back and smiling at him. Bobby only gave a slight raise of the corner of his mouth as a smile. He would _not_ give away how truly moved he was by the music, at least not to Dean. But he sure as Hell will praise Cas.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

After the show, Bobby was just about to make his leave when he saw Cas and Dean making their way over. He stood and greeted them both before turning to Castiel "I appreciate you singing that, Cas. It was my mother's favorite song."

"Oh please, it was my pleasure, Mr. Singer." Castiel says to the man with a smile.

"Oh, and by the way, you'll get your car back" Bobby mentions to Cas as he pulls him aside to speak to him alone.

"My car? Really?"

"Yes. Those guys… they went away." Bobby says as he pulls out a $100 bill and stares at it "You're a good boy, Cassie"

"Oh no, I don't want your money, Mr. Singer" Cas says as he looks at the man with worry.

Bobby shakes his head and rips the $100 bill clean in half and offers half to Cas. "Here. This is your claim check" Bobby says as he places it in Cas's hand and holds it there. "Anytime you have a problem, you reach out to me." He says firmly before he gives Castiel a hug and pats his back before pulling back. Castiel can't help but look at him with a surprised expression upon his face.

"But why, Mr. Singer?" Castiel asks.

Bobby looks at him "You can call me Bobby, boy. And because_ no one _can sing _My Mother's Eyes_ like you can." Cas smiles and nods as he tucks his half of the claim check into his inner jacket pocket.

Bobby pulls up the corner of his lip again "You take care, Cas. And keep up that voice." He says before taking off.

Dean pats Cas on the shoulder "I told you I'd take care of it."

"Thank you, Dean" Cas says with a smile before he goes to leave, grabbing his coat.

_For YEARS, I'm taking care of Singer's laundry, and he treats me like a bum. _

_Cassie sings one song? He gets a claim check._

_I tell you, it's good to be lead singer._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Anyway, Sam finally gets out of being in the cage._

Dean is leaning against his Plymouth and greets Sam with a hug when he gets out of the facility. Cas is there as well and pats Sam on the back.

_So it's me, Sam and Cassie. And it's up to me to keep us all out of the gutter, but no one is hiring trios anymore. Trios, are dead._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_The fact is… I'm all out of ideas. But I can still do math. Three singers = ZERO bookings. So to generate some 'walking around' money, I'm working with this kid on a project at a local establishment._

Dean walks into the bowling alley where he had been placing bets on fixed games that his buddy set up. Said buddy, named Ash, was switching out the pins to set the game, making sure the fixed pins were always in place when they needed to be.

"Ash, you listening?"

"Yeah, Dean, I'm working on it" Ash says as he focuses on the pins and taking the knocked ones out of the way. They were hanging around behind the alleys where Ash was working at switching out the pins. It was already his job, setting, restocking pins. But this game he was working on was fixed. He had to be sure to get it right.

"So listen, we got this jazz group goin', you know? We were playing up north with these two kids, unrelated but very talented. The one kid plays like a madman when he plays the right song, and I'm thinking, this is the guy you're looking for. He can sings great, write music and play piano. But he seems to drive a hard bargain. The other guy holds his own comedy routine up there. Voice like an angel, too, but doesn't really have the drive like the first guy does. They both seem to be what you should be looking for." Ash brings up as he is setting pins.

"And for what?" Dean asks with a hint of annoyance.

"For the group! The band! The tones! The romans, whatever the Hell the name is this week." Ash says before he looks over at the pins as a hard ball comes through and nearly smites him with the pins "I TOLD you! I _warned _you! I swear to God I am going to come over there, you motherfucker! Look at this split you leave with, I'm going to split them over your head-" Ash rants but Dean cut's him off "Alright, Ash, pay attention, take care of business then we talk about you being a talent scout."

Ash sighs "Yeah, Dean, yeah" he grumbles.

"Listen, you don't screw this up… What's the cheaper guy's name?" Dean asks Ash.

"Gabe, I think. Gabriel. If you want, I can arrange a sit-down." Ash replies.

"Alright, look, I handle the sit-downs, you take care of the bowling pins"

"Dean, the kid is worth it, you'll thank me for this. And if worse comes to worse, we can talk to the other guy, too. And don't forget, I discovered them."

"Yeah well hope it doesn't come to that. I am looking for him to work for me, not the other way around."

_Yeah, Ash. Sure I played the whole thing down about Gabe and the other guy, I had to keep my game face on and keep him from screwing up with the pins. _

_But the bells in my head? They were going off big time. Imagine just the power of having two angelic voices instead of one._

_Not only that, but if that fell through, another kid from out of nowhere who sings, plays and writes? You sign him up, you just hit the Trifecta._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**A/N:** More Bobby! And he was NOT CRYING. He simply had something in his eye. So Shuddup. Also, Gabriel will make an appearance in the next chapter! Who knows how his performance will go down… Please let me know how I'm doing, good, bad, or anywhere in between!


	6. Chapter 6, Monkey Business

_Inner monolog in this chapter by Dean_

_Songs used so far: "I can't give you anything but love", "Sunday kind of love", "My Mother's Eyes"_

_Song mentioned in this chapter: "I Go Ape"_

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Chapter 6**, Monkey Business

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_A knock is heard on Gabriel's door as Ash waits impatiently outside. He just HAD to tell Gabriel that the guys were considering putting him into the group. Ash just couldn't wait to see Gabriel's reaction._

Gabriel comes to the door and looks out the door's window at Ash standing outside. Gabriel rolls his eyes and opens the door with one hand, a bowl of half-eaten ice cream (complete with the fix-ins), in his other. "You couldn't wait until after I finished my ice cream? Your timing is shit" Gabriel grumbles before taking another spoonful of his ice cream. "What was it you wanted?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know I just came back from the bowling alley and I had spoken to Dean Winchester about letting you into the group. He showed some interest in you, Gabe! You should definitely consider-" Ash goes on, his mouth running until he was cut off by Gabriel.

"If I really was as interested as you think I am right now, I would have gotten in touch with them myself a while ago. They're stuff is amateur at best. They don't even have any humor to their bones, where's the fun in that?" Gabriel says with a bit of distaste. Honestly, Ash was so overworked about it, it was almost painful. If only he could've eaten his ice cream in piece. It just tasted bitter now.

"What about that Cas dude? He sure has a set of pipes on him. I figured you would have been interested since he showed a lot of promise." Ash says with a shrug, his elevated excitement slowly subsiding down to a more normal amount.

Gabriel shrugs "He's alright. He's probably the best part of that band. I don't know. I don't really have much going on for me right now, and I could probably use a little cash on hand. I guess I will get in touch with them"

Ash grins at that "Great. I will be sure to let Dean know. You will hear from him once he knows you're interested."

Gabriel raises his eyebrows and lets them sink back down in a false interest "Great. Now get out of my face. I have important things to attend to" He says before closing the door on Ash and going back to chilling out with his bowl of now half melted cereal. It's a shame he let it get that bad before he consumed the rest of it.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_The following evening, Dean and Ash are again at the bowling alley after Ash's shift. Dean is collecting the winnings from the bets he had placed on the games that night, and then gave Ash his share. He was just about to leave when Ash finally spoke up._

"So I talked to Gabriel last night about the group." Ash starts and Dean stops and gives him a look of annoyance. He was just about to leave for the night, and he was going to take care of the group situation _himself_. "And?" Dean asks.

"_And_, he is definitely interested. Now you both can meet up and talk it out." Ash says proudly, glad to have gotten it to this point.

Dean rolls his eyes and turns to walk away "Yeah, yeah, alright. Just quit being a talent scout. I never said you could do this to begin with."

"Ah but if this goes well, you won't need a talent scout. Or a guy helping you with fixed games at a bowling alley" Ash says as he smiles wider.

_To be honest, I liked the sound of that. Not having to deal with Ash again seemed nice. Not having to fix games just to scrape by also sounded nice. Having the fourth and final piece of the puzzle also sounded nice._

_But theres a lot of things that sound nice until they are actually played out and put into motion._

_It just so happened this seemed to be one of those things._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Anyways, I humored Ash and his talent scouting, following his word that this comedian and solo performer would be a good catch for the group. I even went so far as to tell Sam and Cas this was a good decision. _

_After all, it was my job to be running this as a business, and I'll be damned if I would let it fall through. I was giving it my all._

_A few nights passed and I set a time to meet up with Gabriel. That night, Cas was going to perform a solo while I spoke to Gabe alone about the conditions I was going to set._

_I would be lying if I said it went well._

"…So until you prove your worth, you will only receive a fraction of what we usually get from our gigs. We don't know if this will work out yet and in all honesty, our routine is a little different from yours" Dean explains to Gabriel who is sitting beside him at the bar.

"You're telling me." Gabriel says sarcastically as he takes a sip of his drink "The only reason I am considering this is basically because I don't have anything else to do right now. I'm getting less and less for each comedy routine I do and I could use what little extra money you're offering. Yeah, I can sing if you want me to. But I do it on my own terms." Gabriel says as he looks at Dean coldly, strictly business with that last mention of his own terms.

"Which would be…?" Dean asks, waiting for the man beside him to continue. He felt this to be more challenging than he was promised by Ash. They both seemed to be attempting to one-up each other in their stubbornness. Even though Gabriel was more compliant, and didn't look like he had one dangerous bone in his body, Dean still shifted uncomfortably at Gabriel's mention of his own terms.

Gabriel grins back at Dean "I practice when I choose to. Don't worry, I will be ready when it comes time to be on stage. I will be on time and everything, but I practice on my own."

Dean rolls his eyes "That doesn't even make any sense. How could you know what we are all going to sound like together if you aren't practicing with us?" Dean asks in annoyance.

"Let's just say it will keep things interesting this way" Gabriel says with a mirthful smile. He enjoyed keeping people on the edge of their seats. And if he was going to perform with this band, he would have fun the entirety of the way watching his co-performers reactions to the games he will play with them. Oh the pranks he could pull.

"Whatever." Dean says in distaste at the uncomfortable look of mischief in Gabriel's eyes. If only he knew what the man had in store for his group.

"Now that we have the technicalities out of the way, what song will I have to learn and practice before next performance?" Gabriel asks with a head tilt, the mischief not leaving his features.

"I Go Ape. Cas put the song together, so you better not mess it up for him." Dean says as he tenses at his last threat. He then pulls out the song and it's lyrics before giving Gabriel a copy, remaining his rigid stance the whole time.

Gabriel puts up his hands defensively "I give you my word I won't mess with it one bit. I promise I will practice it all as it is written, my hand to God" he says as he takes the paper and looks at Dean, sincerity in his voice. But Dean couldn't recognize it was quite the opposite of honesty.

Gabriel smiles after Dean has taken the bait. This will almost be too easy…

"Be here, Saturday night at 6 or it will be your last chance." Dean says after a moment before Gabriel nods and takes the song with him on his way out.

_I should honestly have never trusted Ash with this in the first place. The guy was a whack job. I should have known trusting a guy who normally gets tips for his comedy shouldn't have been trustworthy. Comedy is cheap. Laughs are cheap. No wonder the guy didn't have something else on his plate at the moment._

_But aside the point, I had already signed up the deal with him. Now it was just that Gabriel had to fill in his part. _

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Practicing without Gabriel felt weird. It was an odd sensation practicing without the person who should have been there the most. What if he wasn't getting the cues right? What if he had misread the music in an entirely different key?_

_While I felt this sensation was completely just because the guy wasn't there, it was more underlying the fact I couldn't trust him farther than I could throw him. He was shady in a way that was far different from a guy who was running fixed games in the back of a bowling alley. How the Hell am I supposed to know what the Hell he was getting into when we were off doing what we needed to do, practice?_

_It just did not feel right._

_And when the time came, Saturday night at 6, Gabriel showed up._

_Like HELL he showed up. When I mentioned the song was "I Go Ape" he took it as "I Go APESHIT CRAZY"._

_There he was, dressed head to toe in a gorilla suit, the head part of the suit under his arm. Where the Hell could he even get something like that? In just a few days time? I knew this guy was into comedy routines but damn, he took comedy serious enough to do this. _

"What the Hell are you wearing?" Dean asked in his anger at Gabriel's appearance as the man approached them behind stage.

"The correct performance attire, duh." Gabriel says with smug grin as he then puts on the head mask of his gorilla suit on.

"You are _not_ going out on the stage like this. Go and change out of it, _now_." Dean commanded. Castiel and Sam exchange looks after looking between Dean and Gabriel. Was Dean in his right mind to have made this decision?

"Ah but we are just about to go on now, and you know that" Gabe replies, the grin still under his mask and Dean could almost feel it radiating through the latex and faux fur material.

Dean glares at the man and then the announcer on the stage declares them to now be performing.

Everything happened so quick. Dean, Cas and Sam emerged first onto the stage, followed by the gorilla-suited Gabriel. As soon as they begun, it was the beginning of the end. They performed their respective parts but it just did not work, the crowd grew tense and annoyed at the group before them. A few scattered people began to stand from their seats and leave, while some with stronger nerves stayed put. They then had begun to boo and erupt before the group and it wasn't until Gabriel messed up a cue that things began to be thrown at the stage. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. It was like something out of a terrible nightmare, but all too real and lucid to have been.

The performance was abruptly shortened when the announcer from before went up to stop them and apologize for them to the audience. The four left the stage to head backstage, all fuming.

"The Hell was that Gabriel? This is why you should have practiced with us. _Screw_ your terms." Dean growls at Gabriel as the man removes his Gorilla mask.

"You've already screwed them. And to think I was actually helping you? I work better alone. That which just happened is exhibit A of your bang up job. You cramp my style. No wonder you guys are so desperate to find another guy to help you out. Sorry, but I won't be dragged down to your level." Gabriel fumes as he looks back at Dean, anger in his eyes. No one could take a joke around here, and that was just the problem. What he wanted to be light hearted and fun turned out to become much more than humor. It truly did turn out to be just that, a joke. He turns on his heels and leaves the three of them behind, sticking his gorilla mask back on.

Castiel and Sam stood from behind Dean and they look at each other before Cas looks at Dean. "Well that was certainly interesting to say the least. But what are we supposed to do now?" He asks with a tilt to the head.

Dean looks back and sighs as he looks at Castiel, looking noticeably more tired and drawn thin. "We find another part for the band." He says with a shrug.

_Easier said than done. After this last performance, it would take a Hell of a lot more to catch my eye._

_Gabriel really was a joke._

_To think he didn't take this seriously at all was a stab to the heart. This was a business. This was a life that needed to be tended to, needed to be nourished and aided one step at a time. And Gabriel couldn't see that. No one could see just how hard it was to run things around here for the group._

_But beside that, I took it all in my own power to work on it myself. Now to just do as I had said._

_Find another person to fit the group. Of course I hadn't forgotten that other guy Ash had suggested. The guy sounded like a musical genius, the kind you would find once in a life time in this business. _

_Were we worth that? Hell yes. With Cas' voice, we were meant to perform in front of Gods._

_But I wasn't ready to put in that much commitment into such a shot in the dark. I hadn't even met the guy and if he pulled the same shit like Gabriel, we would just be chasing our own tails and slowly spiraling around a toilet bowl and into the sewers of washed up musicians that got nowhere._

_But if it worked. If this guy worked. If we were able to perform together without a hitch, Boy, we could go _anywhere. _We could do _anything_. And that thought alone was both extremely invigorating and terrifying at the same time. Power like that could kill and tear apart things limb from limb._

_You had to be in it 100% or completely out, otherwise the group would crumble into pieces._

_And right now, at this very moment, we couldn't afford to be out._

_I would have to get a hold of that genius and start over again._

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**A/N:** Alright no more monkeying around, time to get serious here! Who will we see next chapter? ;) Feel free to let me know how this is going, good, bad or anywhere in between. Thanks so much for sticking through this with me so far.


	7. Chapter 7, Untapped Potential

_Inner monolog in this chapter by Dean (John marked otherwise)_

_Songs used/mentioned so far: "I can't give you anything but love", "Sunday kind of love", "My Mother's Eyes", "I Go Ape"_

_Song mentioned in this chapter: "Moody's Mood for Love", "Cry for me"_

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**Chapter 7**, Untapped Potential

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Like I was saying, it was time that I made the best decision for the group, and due to my bang up job of previously picking a comedian, of all things, my reputation was getting a bit bashed. I wasn't sure that we would live down the consequences of that last performance._

_Even if this was ultimately my choice as the group leader to take in Gabriel, after all hell was loose and shit hit the fan, I took to what I do best._

_Blame someone else and evade the situation as soon as possible._

_Ash seemed good enough to be the scapegoat this time. To be fair, he had this coming since he was trusting me, of all people. What do you expect? _

"How the Hell could you do this to me? The guy wasn't even that cheap. If he was considered an easy fit, I would _hate_ to see how that other kid is." Dean practically spits at Ash as he paces outside the back of the bowling alley.

"Y'know, I honestly though Gabe would have been a good shot. He compliments your grouchiness." Ash says boldly in annoyance, leaning on the back emergency exit doorframe as he takes out a cigarette. He was actually looking forward to Dean getting off his case for good with the bowling alley charades with Gabriel completing the picture of the group, but he was unfortunately mistaken. He was now left to deal with a fuming Dean and was working overtime with the fixed games to make up for "his mistake."

"What'd you just say to me?" Dean rumbles as he gets in Ash's face, pure hatred blazing in his eyes. Ash worked for _him_ right now in the bowling alley. And after all, it was Ash's fault that Dean was now scrambling like a chicken with its head cut off in order to find the last member of the band.

"Alright, get off my case. I was honestly, swear to _God_, trying to help you. I want you to get that band good to go as much as you do." Ash says as he lights up his cigarette and smokes.

Dean sighs and turns his back to him, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. His patience was worn so thin.

Ash comes up to him and pats his back before returning to the exit doorway "Hey, you still have that other kid, right? Johnny the musical genius. I am telling you, man, I was definitely serious about his talents. The kid's already a one-hit-wonder. It's just a matter of time before he strikes up something big again. I'm telling you, you need someone like that. With Cas and this kid, you will get so far. These fixed games will be a thing of the past. And 'sides, what's the worst that can happen now? You're already at the bottom. There's nowhere to go but up." Ash finishes with a gesture up to the night sky with his cigarette before he puts it back to his lips.

_And he was right. Those stars shone like the neon in my mind, announcing our names on bright colors against theater and club signs in the big cities. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago. The U. S. won't know what hit them._

Dean sighs again and turns back to look at Ash "You know, you're right. You are honestly right. But I swear if this kid is another fuck-up, I will take it out on you" Dean replies with a death glare that had the intensity to light something on fire if used to long.

"Then, I would deserve it" Ash says with a grin, glad to finally have Dean come to some sort of understanding. Maybe these fixed games would become a thing of the past.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_A rapping of knocks are heard outside John Smith's door to his house. The house was quiet and well kept, if not perfectly average._

John makes his way to the door as he hears the second set of knocks at his door. He answers it only to find Ash there.

"Hey, Johnny, theres a band with three who's looking for a fourth!" Ash says, somewhat excitedly.

"Who?" Johnny asks as he raises an eyebrow at the sudden offer.

"The Three Lovers, or Romans, whatever the Hell they are this week. That isn't important. But they just threw out this other guy who screwed up on a monkey song or something." Ash explains, quickly covering over the fact he knew Gabriel in any way.

John smiles at that and chuckles slightly "Hmm, funny."

"Funny how?" Ash asks as his brows draw together.

"Hm, just, nevermind – why are you telling me this?" John asks curiously, his amusement dying down.

"'Cus I told them you're a freaking genius." Ash says proudly as he grins up at the taller man. When John rolls his eyes and is about to turn away, Ash counters again and says "Hey, don't forget: I discovered you."

"That's good, well, look: I am in the middle of something right now, okay?" John says, moving as if to turn again.

"Are you kidding me?" Ash asks as he raises his eyebrows. "Let's go!"

"Now?"

"Yeah! No, next week. Let's go, we got to go!"

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_And with that, it was another sit-down with another potential group member. Cas was singing "Moody's Mood for love in the background" while Ash sat with Johnny off by the bar in the back. Dean and Sam were between performing and they were to all meet John first hand after the performance._

"_I'm in the mood for love, simply because you're near me"_

"Seriously, Ash? I can't believe you are forcing me to do this" John mutters lowly at him in annoyance, facing the bar.

"Oh c'mon, will you relax? Trust me." Ash reassures him with a grin as he looks back to Cas on the stage, singing.

"_There I go, there I go, there I go, there I go"_

Cas sings heavenly, his voice carrying through to the next verse seamlessly. John's head turns as he, too, becomes captivated by his angelic voice.

"_Pretty baby, you are the soul that snaps my control"_

And with that next line, John turns to face his entire body towards the stage, entranced by this voice he has never encountered before.

"_It's a funny thing but everytime I'm near you I never can behave_

"_You give me a smile and I'm wrapped up in your magic"_

John looks to Ash in surprise at this voice.

_(John) I heard them all; Jacky Wilson, Johnny Mathis, Dinah Washington… But I never heard a voice like Cassie Novak's._

_After thirty seconds, I know I need to write for this voice._

"_I'm in the mood for love."_

And with that, the song completes itself and the audience applauds casually, Johnny following with them in the applause. He was all but stunned at the performance Castiel provided and exchanges a very impressed glance with Ash who just nods in pride in a way that read 'I told you so'.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

After the performance, Ash walks to the stage as the audience was beginning to leave. Johnny follows close behind. Sam and Dean were just putting away their equipment and lighting cigarettes with Cas nearby, all three on the stage.

"Hey, fellas! Fantastic job." Ash greets as he gives them a few claps of appreciation before he introduces Johnny "This is John, the guy I was talking to Dean about. I was just telling him about how you guys were looking for someone and –"

"Alright, Ash, Ash, don't get overexcited, huh?" Dean interrupts before he takes a smoke. He then turns to Sam and Cas and introduces them to John "This here is my brother, Sam Winchester, and this is Castiel Novak." He says before looking back at John "What is it?"

"Smith. Hi" John says in a friendly tone as he extends his hand to shake Dean's.

Dean simply looks at his hand then back at John's face "Where you from?"

"I, eh, North."

"Someone sent you down?"

Ash interrupts "I told you, discovered up North and already had a one-hit-" and as soon as he interrupts Dean, he interrupts himself, seeing the look in Dean's eyes "- Alright, shut up, Ash, I got it."

Dean rolls his eyes as Cas and Sam exchange a look. Dean then looks to John "Alright, call me, we'll set up a meeting."

Cas stops Dean and looks between him and John "C'mon, he's here, we're here, let's go." Cas presses.

"Cmon, Dean, he's got a new one, too. The genius just crawls out of him and… okay, I'm just saying." Ash says optimistically before he quiets himself once more.

Dean looks to Cas who is looking right back. Cas raises his eyebrows expectantly, really wanting to give John a chance. Dean looks back at John and finds the same expression. He then looks at Sam and sees his brother's classic puppy dog eyes and expression. Three against one, huh? Fine.

"Alright, we'll give it a shot." Dean concludes and gestures for John to come up on to the stage.

The bar club was empty by now with the exception of the bartender and a couple of young women who also tended at the bar. John goes to the piano that was on the stage already and takes out the sheet music he had previously worked on, setting it up on the piano and taking a seat there.

With Castiel, Dean and Sam looking on from their respective spots, they watch as Johnny starts up his song with an interesting starting chord.

"_I cried for you,_

_Now cry for me,_

_No no, I don't love you anymore,_

_Cry for me~"_

John starts and Castiel watches, just as captivated by the song as John had previously been to Cas' voice. Already, Cas was imagining higher notes of the chord he could sing to compliment John's already structurally sound song. He decided he would voice his opinion on John's part in the band by joining with him in the song, with the higher notes he had imagined. He joined by voicing lighter, softer ensembles of "don't go, baby" after the phrases John sang.

"_Well, you had your fun (Don't go, Baby)_

"_With someone new (Don't go, Baby)_

"_Girl now you want me to take you back (Don't go, Baby)_

"_We're all through~"_

By now, even Sam had become captured by the song and its strength. The way John's genius song and Castiel's voice tied in perfectly made Sam see just how good John could be for the group. And like Cas, he decided to join in, to voice his opinion on John by joining him and Cas in its performance. Sam went to take out his base guitar again and stood beside Cas behind John, overlooking the notes before he joined within the next verses. And just in time with the leading bridge of the song.

"'_Cus now I'm leaving (Ahhhhhh, ahhhhhh)_

"_No, no make believing (Ahhhhhh, ahhhhh)_

"_You made a fool of me (Ahhhhhh, ahhhhhh)_

"_So now I'm leaving you~"_

Even Dean was now getting his guitar out to join the rest of his bandmates in performing this song with John. The few people left who ran the bar had ceased what they were doing and turned their full attention to the miracle that was unfolding upon the stage as all four now took part in this little practice. Dean pulls his guitar strap over his head and joins beside Sam to look on over the music so he could get his place.

"_(Ahhh, I) Love you so~ (Don't go, Baby)_

"_More than you'll ever know (Don't go, Baby)_

"_But you just cheated and you lied (Don't go, Baby)_

"_Go and cry for me~"_

John sings with the trio behind him playing their respective parts. The sound filled the stage and bar, taking all of the attention of the people working to be entranced by the meaningful lyrics and chords echoing through. John glances as he sings, finding the three of them fully captivated by the song, _his_ song, and this brings up his courage a little more.

"_Well, you knew it from the start, (Ahhhhh)_

"_Someday you'd break my heart~, (Ahhhhh)_

"_Now we're all through~! (Ahhhhh, ahhhh, ahhh)_

"_So, cry (cry, cry) cry~ for me! (Won't you cry for me baby, cry)_

"_Just the way I cry (cry) for you! (cry)_

"_(Won't you cry for me baby, cry)_

"_The way I cry (cry) for you! (cry)_

"_Go on and cry~ (cry), _

"_Cry~,_

"_For me~, (Cry for me~) (Ooo weee ooo weee ooo oh ooooo~)"_

The song came to a close as soon as it had begun, and the remaining people who were there accompanying the band clapped at the unexpected performance they received.

Dean pats John on the back as he gets up from the piano with his music "Just give us a minute, alright?" he asks as John just nods and leaves the stage to be by Ash.

Cas and Dean exchange a look before Cas looks to Sam, wanting to hear his perspective on it first since he was ultimately the one who helped him practice to begin with. "What do you think?" Cassie asks Sam, saving Dean his breath.

"I mean, I don't know. He writes, he sings," Sam says with a shrug despite his obvious impressed features. He then looks to Dean "What do you think Dean?" Sam asks.

Meanwhile, John gets a drink from the bartender and the two girls who were working earlier come over to great him "Hi there"

"Oh Hi" John says with a small smile before he takes a sip of his drink.

"So," one of the girls pipes up "I was just wondering if the, um,… Who is the girl in your song?" she asks with slight hesitation and hope in her voice. The other girl interrupts "She means, well, do you have a girlfriend?"

John's eyes widen at the question before he smiles "Well, I, I don't. No, and no, it's any girl. It's every girl" he explains to them both, not noticing Dean coming closer. "It's what T.S. Eliot calls the objective correlative."

The first girl looks at him meaningfully "I felt, I thought you were singing to me" while the second girl rolls her eyes before asking him "You're not from around here, are you?" The first girl looks at the second girl and smiles "He's like, really exotic though." And the second girl nods in agreement "Yeah…"

But before John could get another word in with the ladies, Dean taps him on the shoulder "Hey, we gotta talk" Dean says in slight urgency despite him trying to hide it.

"Oh, yeah, okay" John says with a smile in agreement as he takes another drink.

Dean turns to the girls and smiles "hey, ladies." And with that the girls give him their full attention, smiles and all. "Are you good?" Dean asks.

The first girl responds with a wider smile and a nod "So good."

"Well, you know what I'm going to do? I am going to shut my eyes and count to three and when I open them, you're going to disappear. Ready?" Dean asks with a grin before he closes his eyes and counts "One… two…" And with that the girls give each other confused looks before the leave both Dean and John alone to talk.

"Three" Dean ends as he opens his eyes and smiles at the vacant space in front of him before turning to John "And they're gone" He says proudly. He then drops the amused game and looks more serious "So you got a manager? Agent? Someone who does your deals that I can speak to?" Dean asks.

John shrugs before looking more serious as well "That's alright, and unnecessary, you can talk to me." Sam, Cas and Ash watch from further down the empty bar.

"You sure?" Dean asks with a lifted brow.

"Yeah."

Dean rubs his face with one hand before looking back up at the other man "Alright, look, we are going to hire you under a trial basis, let's say, three weeks? Making $5 a week, we'll see how it goes." Dean concludes as he stays completely businesslike.

John looks away before shaking his head slightly "That's not going to work."

"Yeah? Why not?"

"Well, I was thinking I would come in as an equal partner." John proposes, not skipping a beat as he remains completely businesslike as well.

Dean raises his eyebrows in surprise "Really?"

"Plus, I should retain the publishing on anything I write. And we can work out relations on any mechanical and ancillary rights." John says with a nod before waiting on Dean's next move.

Dean shifts uncomfortably as he processes the offer before holding up a finger "Excuse me a minute" he says before he brushes past John to head over to Cas and Sam, rubbing his mouth and chin with one hand as he thinks.

Dean turns to Cas and looks between him and Sam before finally saying "Forget it."

Cas looks shocked, if not disappointed "Why?"

"He wants a four way split. In his dreams." Dean grumbles.

"Well, Dean,"

"What?"

"This kid is good."

Dean rolls his eyes up to the ceiling before looking back to Cas "What, you think this kid is the golden goose? What did he do? He wrote one fucking song. We're going to cut him in equal? Cmon. There's a million of them out there."

"Where?" Sam finally challenges.

"Where what?"

"A million guys, where are they?"

Ash pipes in as well "look, can I just say something-"

"-No." Dean interrupts

"Okay. Okay" Ash says with a huff of aggravation.

Cas looks to Dean, his eyes almost pleading and giving away how disappointed he was in Dean's decision. "Dean, I like it."

"What? What, you got a hard-on for this kid? Come on, look at him. He can't drink, he can't smoke. Look at that face. He's never been laid before. What good is he?"

"What, you think he's green, take him under your wing like you did with me." Cas pleads with his bright blue eyes as he stares straight into Dean's green ones.

"You want me to cut him in equal?"

"Yeah, if it works, there will be enough for everybody." Cas agrees, letting up in the hopes that Dean is starting to shift his opinion. "If it doesn't, what's the difference?"

Dean stares back into Cas' face for a moment before he sighs then glances at Sam and back. "I'll tell you what. You know what, we don't need a keyboard. That's _my_ decision. That's the end of it."

Dean starts to turn away and head back to John when Cas replies coldly, the expression drained from his face and eyes "If that's how you feel, then go get yourself another lead singer."

Dean stops and turns back to look at Cas, facing him. "What'd you say?"

Cas' eyes narrow ever so slightly, but his face is the same mask of emotionlessness. He meant business. "I said get yourself another lead singer."

"What's the matter with you?" Dean huffs in anger as he approaches Castiel, his hand raising. "What do you want, a fucking smack? Huh?"

Castiel easily blocks his arm with his own and glares back at Dean "Yeah."

Dean hesitates and looks at Cas' arm keeping his own back "What is this?" Dean asks before looking back at Cas' face, only to be met with the same, cold, emotionless stare. "Oh, I see… Alright. I tell you what. We cut him in equal, and it goes up in smoke, don't fuckin' blame me, alright?"

Cas just continues to stare as coldly, even after Dean had changed his mind in favor of the group. Dean looks to Sam and asks "You alright with this?"

Sam nods, knowing that Dean wouldn't have gone too far without Cas or Johnny. "Yeah, let's give it a try. The kid's good."

Dean nods before looking at Ash, his eyes narrowing. "I'm gonna deal with you later." He challenges before turning to go back to John. "Smith," he calls to get his attention to which John humors him and turns to look at him.

Ash looks at Dean then looks at Cas "What'd I do?" he asks him lowly and Cas shrugs. "Nothing." Cas knew it was just Dean finding someone to blame for things not going his way or exactly how he wanted it to be. Sam agrees and nudges Ash "Don't worry about it."

John comes over to them and looks between everyone before looking at Dean.

Dean looks up at John hesitantly before he bites back his annoyance and concludes "You're in the group."

John blinks "Oh. Great, Thank you. Thanks." He says before a smile spreads across his face, looking between his new fellow musicians. Cas pats John on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner of sorts. John goes to put out his hand to shake with Dean's but Dean turns to walk away, once again leaving John short of a handshake. Sam pats John on the back too before turning back to the bar "Cmon, let's get a drink."

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

_Later, it is just Dean and John in the bathroom after the big decision, taking care of their business. _

Dean tries to start some small talk with John, at least let him know he is human and not business all the time. "Listen, kid, the music business is a jungle. If you need anything, you come to me. Anytime, anyplace."

"Alright" John agrees before Dean finishes up and is about to leave.

"Alright, hey, what's your shoe size?" Dean asks John.

John blinks at the sudden change in topics "Uh, 10 ½"

"Alright. You should stop by the house sometime, I'll straighten you out" Dean says with a wave of his hand before leaving the bathroom.

John's brows pull together in confusion at Dean's words and he shrugs as he, too finishes up and leaves.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

**A/N:** So, we finally know the fourth and final member of the band! But what did Dean mean by straightening him out? ;) It's not nearly as dirty as you think, don't worry. So far it's just the language that has given this fic its rating. I might change that in the future though. We'll just have to see. Anyways I hope you liked this chapter! It turned out far longer than I expected it to and I was considering cutting it down in half, but there wasn't a good spot for me to split it. Let me know where to go with this with some suggestions or feedback! I really appreciate it.


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